Dr Sam Rushworth

I do recognise that, and it is an important thing for the armed forces to consider. We need to ensure that all careers are as family friendly as possible. Let me take a moment, too, to pay respect to the people who make that sacrifice for us. The final point that I want to put on the record is about family hubs and even parenting classes, which are slightly taboo. People get easily offended by the suggestion that they may need support with being a parent, as though somehow we are all born knowing these things. I know that if I could wind back the clock 19 years, I would be a better parent to my firstborn, because of the things that I have learned not only on the journey of being a parent, but through academic study of childhood. The Government are rolling out Best Start family hubs, but not at the rate that we really need them. It should be a statutory provision. I remember attending antenatal classes with my wife. I learned about what those first few weeks of having a baby would be like, but after that you are on your own. There are so many important things about childhood development that parents want to learn and to do better. Let me finish where I started. A Government who support fatherhood are a Government who support fathers to join mothers in doing just about the most important thing we can do: raising the next generation, during times of trouble and uncertainty, and building the resilience we need in that generation.